Hypnosis is a form of concentration so intense that the person starts to ignore the external environment as the mind turns to other things, which has nothing to do with magic. Unlike sleeping, it leads to a state of superconsciousness. Developed in the United States, the Best Me self-hypnosis technique (adapted to the acronym CESPME in Portuguese) aims to generate real experiences that help to improve self-confidence, stimulate the achievement of goals and help deal with traumas and fears.
Steps
Method 1 of 4: Preparation
Step 1. Choose a time when you won't feel sleepy
The goal is to get as far away from the world as possible to focus on visualizing the success of your plans. Doing this in a time of sleep will cause you to fall asleep instead of concentrating.
Step 2. Eat a light meal between one and two hours before starting
It's harder to concentrate if you're hungry or stuffed. Eat enough to have energy to meditate, but not so much that you feel drowsy.
Step 3. Go to a quiet place
The ideal place should not have people who can interrupt you or noises that can scare you and bring you back to reality; a small, comfortable, clean and private place is enough.
Step 4. Strive not to be interrupted
Turn off the cell phone or take the landline phone off the hook. Ask your family not to look for you during this time.
Step 5. Get in a comfortable position
It is best to sit down, as lying down can put you to sleep. To get hypnotized more easily:
- Choose the most comfortable position for your legs. A classic meditation pose is to sit with them crossed, but if you prefer to kneel, sit with your legs straight, or use a chair, make yourself comfortable. The important thing is to get comfortable.
- Keep your back straight. This will help you breathe deeply. Sit in a chair if you have difficulty sustaining your posture.
- Keep your hands in a position that doesn't bother you. They can be propped up on your lap, in a prayer position, or in whatever way you like.
Step 6. Breathe slowly and deeply
When you start using the technique, close your eyes, inhale and exhale slowly. Just think about your breathing and nothing else. Doing so will help clear your mind and prepare you to enter a state of heightened concentration.
Method 2 of 4: Entering a State of Hypnosis with the Best Me or “CESPME” Technique
Step 1. Follow each step described by the acronym Best Me
The order of steps doesn't matter, you should pay more attention to the content than the form. Such was the way that Americans found to fix this knowledge in the minds of practitioners; if the steps are absorbed, the word might even be “mixed up”. It is important to remember that all steps must be followed to ensure that you truly immerse yourself in the experience you create.
- C – Belief.
- E – Emotion.
- S – Physical sensation.
- P – Thoughts and Images.
- M – Motivation.
- E – Expectations.
Step 2. Choose your safe place (belief)
Think of a place, real or imagined, where you feel peaceful, happy and safe. Any place will do, there's no right and wrong in that sense, but it's better to stick with the place you've chosen without changing it later – this will contribute to relaxation. The most used places for this are:
- A beach.
- A sunny park.
- A tourist spot.
- A favorite room in the current home or any other home.
- A place seen in pictures.
Step 3. Imagine yourself in your safe place
This is the physical sensation part. Don't just look, use all your senses to locate yourself. While imagining every detail of the place, let the tranquility act on you and relax. For example, if you chose a beach, focus on things like:
- Colors – the orange tones of the sunset, the blue of the water.
- Sounds – the waves crashing on the sand and rocks, the singing of seagulls.
- Sensations – the wind blowing on your skin and the warm sand under your feet.
- Aromas – The pure, salty smell of the sea air.
Step 4. Let the peace of the place take the negative emotions away
Be part of the peace around you. Feel calmer, feel your body relaxing. Say to yourself, "I am calm and at peace."
Step 5. Allow serenity to clear your thoughts
At first they won't disappear all at once, but don't fight it. When random ideas cross your mind, choose to focus on your safe place. Keep getting absorbed, more and more, sinking and being absorbed.
- When you have trouble getting rid of the thought in question, imagine it playing on a television and use the remote to mute the sound or turn it off.
- You can also imagine putting the thought in a drawer and then closing it.
Step 6. Enjoy the peace
There is no other place you want to be right now, there is nothing you want to do but be where you are. Your only intention now is to exist freely in this place, to dream and let go until you reach your own paradise.
Step 7. Dive headfirst into your safe place
Don't worry if the technique is working or not. Since hypnosis is nothing but concentration, don't get distracted from the environment. Be in it, be part of it. When you are completely absorbed you will have reached the state of hypnosis. The creator of Best Me says, "The more submerged you are, the farther you can go, the farther you go, the deeper you'll want to go and the better the experience."
Step 8. Redo these steps whenever you want
Go back to the sensations of your safe place. Feel the peace and let go of thoughts. Enjoy the place as it is absorbed, until you are truly a part of it.
Step 9. Associate the place with a word
Once you know him well, give him a name. You can invoke this name even when you are not hypnotized to feel calm and relaxed.
Step 10. End the session or move to anticipation or reliving
This is the time to go back if you are still perfecting the technique or if the goal was simply to calm down. You can also anticipate a goal to build self-confidence and courage or revisit past emotions to reduce anxiety.
Method 3 of 4: Anticipating Goal Results
Step 1. Select a goal
Focus on one goal per session, giving preference to what you most want to achieve. Imagining yourself successful in this endeavor and its results will help build self-confidence and motivation to pursue it. The idea is to improve your performance in several areas, such as:
- Academic area.
- Corner.
- Dance.
- Physical development.
- Creative writing.
- Get in shape.
- Starting your own business/achieving a professional goal.
- Lose weight or stop smoking.
Step 2. Simulate goal success using the Best Me or CESPME technique
Inside your safe place, start imagining yourself achieving your goals in detail. The more realistic the situation and the more steps it takes, the better for you to delve into this thought.
- Imagine the positive results of the goal to further encourage yourself, such as a well-deserved vacation after a long year of work, or recognition after submitting a thesis.
- Do this with smaller goals too. For example, to quit smoking, you could imagine having dinner at a special place such as a celebration for the first week without a smoke, or a conversation with a friend where you proudly report that you haven't smoked in a month.
Step 3. Imagine reaching your goal
Visualize yourself getting a raise, a diploma, or something else. Simulate that moment to the fullest, as you did with your safe place. See the scene, feel, hear, smell the environment. Think exactly what you will say and do.
Step 4. Experience the satisfaction and pride of having made it
See the admiring looks of your friends and family, hear what they say. Think about how happy and fulfilled you will feel. Allow yourself to feel all of this fully.
Step 5. Don't think about anything else
When other thoughts invade, ignore them and turn your attention to the situation you are in. Experience your success with so much realism that your simple will could make it happen.
Step 6. Believe in success
Witnessing (even mentally) the fulfillment of your own desire and the emotions of those involved has the power to create memories that are intense enough to guide you towards success, because you will do what needs to be done with conviction.
Step 7. End the session by counting from one to five
Think about going back to the outside world as soon as you get to five.
- One: starting the return.
- Two: you are happy and confident.
- Three: closer and closer to the surface. Focus on yourself, your breathing, and the sensations of the chair or floor under your body.
- Four: almost there. Start paying attention to ambient sounds.
- Five: open your eyes. You are back and feeling wonderful.
Method 4 of 4: Reliving Past Scenes to Boost Confidence
Step 1. Think of a time when you felt motivated and excited
Like the safe place, this situation should be vivid and detailed. Where were you? What were you doing? Who were you with at the time?
Step 2. Recreate the moment with the Best Me or CESPME technique
Start by visualizing yourself in the past. What you see? What are you listening to? Do you smell any, what? What were you doing? Was it saying something? Relive the moment intensely, until you feel that it could happen again by your own will.
Step 3. Feel the emotions
As you allow yourself to enter and participate in the scene, feel the emotions again.
Step 4. Ignore negative thoughts
When they appear, subtly push them away and get back into the situation. If they persist, imagine them passing through a TV and turn it off with the remote, or store them in a drawer and close it later.
Step 5. Believe in your success
Memories related to strong feelings are powerful. Reliving them and the emotions of confidence and happiness they evoke will make you feel that success is inevitable.
Step 6. Match this positive feeling to a word
After replaying the experience, think of a word to describe it. Focus on that word while reliving the good feelings. In the future it will automatically activate good feelings when needed.
Step 7. Count to five to end the session
You will return to your normal state of consciousness once you reach five.
- One: starting the return.
- Two: you are happy and confident.
- Three: closer and closer to the surface. Focus on yourself, your breathing, and the sensations of the chair or floor under your body.
- Four: almost there. Start paying attention to ambient sounds.
- Five: open your eyes. You are back and feeling wonderful.
Tips
- In addition to the Best Me / CESPME technique, it is a good idea to consult with a therapist or analyst to help you organize yourself in pursuit of goals, deal with anxiety, and develop more self-confidence.
- Words are not the center of this technique. The idea is to internalize the positive feelings generated, this is the most important thing.
- Maybe you don't reach the state of consciousness you want in the beginning. It is possible that anticipation or reliving is not perfectly achieved in the beginning, but it takes practice. Such a technique requires training and improvement, like any skill.